The Curse of Being a Mudblood

Chapter Four

Mhm. Chapter four. That's it.

xx Audrey

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Bella was standing on her four poster bed, in the fifth-year Gryffindor girls dorm, singing into a hairbrush, feeling elated.

It was Saturday. That meant no classes, no Slytherin encounters, nothing for two whole days.

She laughed, and heard the dorm door open, and she immediately jumped from the bed, landing clumsily on the floor, looking to who had walked in.

It was Hermione Granger, the  Gryffindor prefect with busy hair, and always seemed to have her nose in a book.

Hermione looked at Bella, smiling slightly, and Bella smiling sheepishly back at her, turning away and setting the hairbrush in her trunk.

Bella bit her lip, and turned back to the girl who was rummaging through a stack of books on her nightstand.

"Hermione.....?" the strange name rolled unfamiliarly off her tongue. Yes, they had shared a dorm for five years, but the two Gryffindors had never really gotten on a first name basis.

Hermione nodded, absently saying "Hm?"

Bella fiddled with the end of her skirt "Your friends with Harry Potter, yes?"

An unreadable look flashed over Hermione's face, and she nodded a second time "Yes, I am."

"Well, I just- I was wondering- just, I believe him, alright? About vol- the thing that happened last year. and, I don't know, people don't seem to be taking what he says well, so I figured, he might want to know if people support him." Bella said, all very fast, then she said more slowly, "And I do. "

Hermione smiled again, it was the same understanding smile, "Why don't you tell him?"

Bella shrugged "I don't know, I've never really talked to him, I doubt he knows who I am."

Bella headed for the door, before Hermione could say anything else, and make Bella feel any more awkward and foolish. 

"Bella?"

Bella cringed in the doorway, about to pretend she hadn't heard Hermione, but she turned around partially. "Yeah?"

Hermione smiled, almost in an understanding way that Bella didn't like. "I know the Slytherins bother you a lot. It's best if you just ignore it." 

Bella let out a laugh, and leaned her forehead against the doorway. "I shouldn't even be in Gryffindor because I spend most of my time running from them. I think I'm in the wrong house. i think I'm a Hufflepuff. I can't ignore it, I can't fight them off."

Hermione moved forward, resting a hand on Bella's shoulder. "The Hat put you in Gryffindor for a reason. I saw you stand up for that girl in the Great Hall. Harry and Ron were about to do something, but you beat them to it." 

Bella shrugged off her hand. "Maybe. Anyway, thanks Hermione."

Hermione called out a your weclome, but Bella rushed out of the room, leaving the common room, trying not to trip over a loose Pgmy Puff.

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That's it. Not very interesting, I know, but it's important nonetheless.  

-Brandy